The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 64

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

of the equally conservative Free Press to screen the pre-publication article
proofs. He concluded that Perry had overly emphasized recent strikes in
the city, which, he said, were "no worse than that of other industrial cen-
ters" and inflated "the importance of [United Auto Workers president]
Walter Reuther ... that will only give a large majority of the UAW a loud
laugh." Considering Perry's continued association with the Post after he
had completed most of the series, it is doubtful that editorial restrictions
weighed heavily in the writer's decision to pursue new themes."
Despite these criticisms, flattery, appeals, and increased remuneration
from Post management prolonged what was overall a mutually beneficial
relationship. The three forms of persuasion came together in late 1945
when the publication increased Perry's pay to $2,ooo per article in order
to make the travel "less onerous." Bob Fuoss, the managing editor, asked
him to "keep an open mind" on doing an entire series "so long as the
public is getting a bang" out of it. Emphasizing that public interest had
increased the magazine's circulation even outside the featured cities, he
added pointedly: "I think the Perry byline is becoming better known
than ever before. And the tons of local promotion . .. won't retard sales
of your books." Without question the series constituted a solid invest-
ment for the publication; the directorship "plaster[ed] the town" of
Baltimore with issues containing Perry's article and sent an official to
speak at a dedication ceremony. Perry, nevertheless, reacted edgily to
his literary agent, Edith Haggard, about the readers' demands that he
expand his itinerary. "I did not suggest anything," she replied, defensive-
ly. "However, this woman telephoned to ask if you were going to
Philadelphia and Syracuse, and by God . . . I told her to send . . . [the
suggested material] along."'5
Some of Perry's ill humor derived from his frustrated attempt to reis-
sue Hold Autumn in Your Hand. The timing seemed propitious, as a
movie version entitled The Southerner, which he disliked, was screening in
theaters when Perry approached Whittlesby House in 1945. An editor
held hope of "work[ing] out [an] arrangement," but noted that the firm
had just reprinted Walls Rise Up and preferred to wait until the fall of
1946. The press also sought assurances that no cheaper edition would
compete with it later. Walls "re-sold nicely," the editor stated several
months later, because of Perry's increased public recognition since its
"Perry, "Portrait of the Morning," 162-168; Robert Fuoss to Perry, May 3, 1945, Works, Perry
Collection (ist quotations); Malcolm Bingay to Ben Hibbs, Apr. 23, 1946, Works, Perry
Collection (2nd quotation).
L Robert Fuoss to Perry, Nov. 28, 1945, Letters Reclp. Saturday Evening Post (hereafter cited as
SEP) Perry Collection (1st three quotations); Edith Haggard to Perry, Feb. 1, 1946, Letters
Recip. Curtis Brown Ltd., Perry Collection (3rd quotation); H. Findley French to Perry, Apr. 24,
1946, Letters Recip. E-F (2nd quotation).

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